BACKGROUND
The global COVID-19 pandemic has had negative impacts on people's health, causing physiological and psychological problems. The benefits of online mindfulness intervention (OMI) are known from existing studies. However, no comprehensive reviews and extensive meta-analyses of their effectiveness have been conducted.
OBJECTIVE
The primary purpose of this meta-analysis was to investigate the effects of OMI on physiological and psychological health in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic; the secondary aim was to perform subgroup analysis to determine which protocol could maximize the benefits.
METHODS
We electrically searched for randomized controlled trials published from January 2000 to June 2022 in the CEPS, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PubMed/MEDLINE, and EMBASE. The PRISMA checklist was used.
RESULTS
We identified 20 studies for inclusion. OMI has a large effect on depression and anxiety; a medium effect on sleep problems and perceived stress; and a small effect on mindfulness. Subgroup analysis indicated that OMI was more effective on depression and anxiety in COVID-19 patients than in non-COVID-19 patients. The group approach of OMI was discovered to exert a greater effect on depression and the individual approach to be more effective on anxiety. By the GRADE approach, the quality of this evidence was deemed “moderate”, and the effect of the intervention is Favors.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite the heterogeneity of outcomes across studies, our study suggested that OMI can be a complementary and effective tool during an epidemic. Therefore, these interventions will be one of the important ways to overcome quarantine, maintain social distancing and maintain physical and mental health.
CLINICALTRIAL
This research was constructed following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) and registered on PROSPERO (CRD 42022320783)